34 The Best of Monterey Bay® Family 2024-2025 setting. Participation should be fun and open to all skill levels. Neil Diaz, MBFC’s Club Development Officer, recommends that parents check out the facility and instructor, make certain the program is safe—no novice 6-year-olds going up against more experienced and physical pre-teens—and find out if there is a curriculum. For children to learn the sport there should be tasks and goals, just like in the classroom, but with an important caveat. “When my kid went in, my goal was to keep her in sports,” Diaz says. “Everything has to have an element of fun.” Of course, a sport by nature involves competition. Sooner or later winning will begin to matter to the young athlete. If a child is at the point of looking to improve and become part of a team, it’s time for parents to seek the next level of camp or club. However, there is no set age at when this occurs. “That depends on the kid,” Gallaway explains. “For me it was when I had maxed out on rec soccer. But don’t push too soon.” Rebollar agrees, noting that the desire to compete can start at any age, although the early teens is a good benchmark. “Personally, for me I wanted it earlier—a winning mentality,” he adds. “But you start introducing that competition when they want it—without taking away the love of the sport.” There is also another matter to consider. If and when the sport becomes serious for the athlete, they will eventually be placed in a regular position. Diaz believes it is important that parents in particular, but youth instructors as well, don’t glorify high-profile positions like striker or goalkeeper. Rather—for pre-teen players—adults should make it clear that all positions on the pitch are equally important, that there is no proverbial sticking the weakest player in right field. “The idea at the youth level is playing everywhere on the field so that they gravitate toward what they like,” Diaz explains. An added benefit of this approach, Diaz says, is that players learn the role of and demands on each position. By the time they have settled into a particular slot—sometime approaching high school age, according to Diaz— they will have a higher soccer IQ. And that is part of the toolkit coaches of traveling clubs, high school teams and beyond look for. “At 12-13-14, you should have the techniques,” he says. “Now it’s what motivates you. It’s still fun, but it’s competitive.” For players like Rebollar and Gallaway who have the skills to compete at the high school, college and potentially professional level, there are a number of successful traveling clubs in the area, as well as summer camps where coaches challenge players to extend their abilities. Monterey Bay F.C. has also become an important resource. Last year the team, which is part of the USL Championship series at professional soccer’s second tier, established MBFC2, a tryout squad for local amateurs age 23 and under playing a summer schedule under the tutelage of the top team’s coaching staff. In its first season, with Gallaway as captain, MBFC2 won the league title. “It’s important to have a competitive level,” Rebollar acknowledges. “There are a lot of good players.” For 2024, the Monterey Bay F.C. has added a summer Development Academy, open by invitation to area club players ages 14-18. What makes it unique is that the academy does not siphon athletes from clubs, but works alongside as a training program for select players with a goal of providing a pathway to professional soccer. “Playing at a competitive level takes a commitment,” Diaz points out. “A developmental academy is for people at a high level.” Programs like club soccer and the MBFC Development Academy are the top step for young players. This, the professionals say, is when they can be pushed to work harder and tune their skills to the extreme. But they remind parents, children and youth coaches that the first steps are for kids to embrace the enjoyment of sport. “You shouldn’t put pressure on kids,” Diaz says. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County get future soccer stars started through camps teaching fundamentals and fun. Monterey Bay F.C. midfielder Pierce Gallaway (below right), a Carmel native, is the product of local youth soccer and says such programs should “inspire a love of the game.” celia jiménez
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